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El Ciudadano

Original article: Manouchehri y Cicardini (PS) apuntan a Quiroz y destapan que sí había dinero en «caja fiscal»

Socialist Lawmakers Challenge Finance Minister Quiroz Over Fiscal Report and Allegations of Fund Mismanagement

Socialist lawmakers Daniel Manouchehri and Daniella Cicardini have publicly criticized Finance Minister Jorge Quiroz following the release of the latest budget report by the Budget Office (Dipres), which details the country’s fiscal situation and the Public Treasury’s asset levels at the end of February.

According to the official report from Dipres, the Public Treasury held assets exceeding $3.6 billion, contradicting government arguments made to justify recent economic decisions, including the recent hike in fuel prices.

In this context, Representative Daniel Manouchehri stated: “Minister Quiroz justified the ‘fuel hike’ by claiming there was no fiscal fund, but the recent official report from Dipres reveals the Public Treasury maintained assets of $3.6 billion. Chile deserves a serious explanation. What is the truth, Minister?”

“They lied with a simple phrase: ‘there is no fund.’ There was a fund. What matters is not last year’s snapshot, but the fund that existed when the minister justified the ‘fuel hike.’ That’s where the trap lies; they used a false excuse to hit families, and now they want to shift the debate to how the fund was generated. They are institutionalizing misinformation,” he added.

Senator and member of the Senate Finance Committee, Daniella Cicardini, emphasized that “the Kast government claims ‘the fund is empty.’ The latest official report from Dipres states that the Boric government left a fund of $3.617 billion at the end of February.”

“The data is public. The lie is too. What does Minister Quiroz have to say now?” the legislator charged.

Both lawmakers have criticized the narrative the José Antonio Kast government is trying to establish regarding the state of the public finances, contrasting the fuel price increase due to modifications to the Fuel Price Stabilization Mechanism (Mepco) with the imminent tax reform that the Executive will present in April.

As announced, this measure, framed within the so-called “National Reconstruction Plan,” aims to reduce the corporate tax rate from 27% to 23% for large companies.

In this vein, Representative Daniel Manouchehri asserted, “First, they claimed there was no fund. Dipres debunked that; there were $3.6 billion. Now they say that money ‘was debt,’ but that was never the debate.”

“The debate was simple: was there money to avoid raising fuel prices for the public? Yes, there was. Everything else is just excuses to avoid admitting that the ‘fuel hike’ was a political decision to finance tax cuts for the richest 1%. The bill is always paid by the people,” concluded the socialist representative.

El Ciudadano

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